George wasn't lunging for Jack.

He was lunging for our son.

I knew that I was helpless and nobody would hear me, but I couldn't help my screaming. It was just a natural reaction. I don't know what made Jack turn, but he did. And then he was screaming too. His eyes were already wide and the colour had left his cheeks. There were a few split seconds of utter confusion, which my fear elongated into an eternity.

I saw George's blade move through the air and his face twist with rage. His eyes were locked on my son, who was lying helpless and screaming on the ground. I saw the panic on Nyssa and Isaacio's faces and both of them gave a start. They started running, but I could see that they wouldn't make it in time.

Not my baby. My beautiful boy. Not him too.

I knew that that was what George wanted. He wanted to punish Jack by leaving him with nothing.

It was a loud BANG that ended the confusion. I could smell gunpowder. There was a clatter as George's sword hit the ground. He stumbled backwards. Before I could have rushed to try and help my baby and before I'd even seen him reach for it, Jack's pistol had gone off. It was at such close rage that it blasted George backwards. His back hit the wall and he slid down, leaving a trail of blood down it. He lay slumped at the bottom, but I could see his ribcage moving. He was still breathing. He was still alive… but it was clear that he wasn't going to last long.

I turned to look at my baby. I ran to him and knelt down to have a good look. He was completely unscathed, safe and sound. George hadn't had a chance to do anything. I hadn't thought that anything had happened, but in the confusion I couldn't have been sure. I let out a sigh of relief and stood back up again to look at Jack.

I could see that his hands were shaking as he held his pistol out in front of him. His eyes were still wide. I don't think he had even realised that he had pulled the trigger until he saw George's blood. His eyes scanned the area where I had been standing. I moved slowly back there, studying his expression and trying desperately to lock eyes with him. "Did you…" he whispered to Nyssa, who had finally stepped forward. He slid his gun back into its holster and took a step towards me. "Did you hear…"

His eyes found my face so many times without him knowing it and I wanted to cry out to him.

"What?" Nyssa pressed. She looked apprehensive, as if there was an answer she was expecting. She kept glancing in the general direction of where I was standing.

"Nothing," Jack blinked, still staring at where I was standing. He tore his eyes away from that spot and shook his head, as if to clear it. "I thought I heard-… nothing."

It was then I knew that he'd heard me screaming. I had no idea how, but somehow he had heard it. I saw Nyssa and Isaacio exchange a look and I wondered if they knew more than they were letting on. Had they heard me too? Were all of my efforts finally breaking through to them? Or was it just a coincidence? Jack walked away and scooped up our son in his arms. He clutched him tightly to his chest. "You're all right," he whispered to him and for the first time in a long while Jack's hands weren't shaking. I saw the ghost of a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. "I've got you. You're all right."

He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and kissed his son on the forehead. Our baby's cries died away in his father's arms. There was a moment of almost happy silence and then George found the strength to speak. He was attempting to slow his blood loss by pressing his hand over the wound and as a result they were stained crimson, as was the front of his shirt. "You don't…" he was finding it difficult to speak. "You… don't deserve… him."

George's eyes flickered to the infant in Jack's arms. The one he had just tried to kill. Jack looked at him. "Shut up," he warned, but George knew that he was getting to him. A twisted smile spread all over his face as he struggled to pull himself into a sitting position. It was the last and only attack of a dying man.

"You don't…" he winced as he rested on one arm and pushed himself further up the wall. "… deserve anything of hers."

Jack's anger became too much and he handed the baby to Nyssa, so that he could draw his pistol again. "I told you," he said "to shut up."

George tried to laugh, but the pain he was in stopped him. His breathing was becoming laboured. "You've not won," he said defiantly.

"It looks like I have, mate," Jack said, but his expression was hollow. George shook his head.

"You killed her. You left your child motherless and you have to live with that…" he said. Jack stood in front of him with his pistol raised and aimed at George's head. One quick click of the trigger is all it would have taken to silence, but looking at Jack's eyes I could see that he couldn't quite do it. He looked too lost, confused. I could see that George's enjoyment of Jack's pain was almost making him forget about his own. "He'll hate you Jack… that child will hate you. For what you did… what you are. You killed his mother… how can he live… with the man who did that…? How can… you… live with that?" Each and every one of George's words was cutting into Jack like a blade. It had made him almost forget about the gun in his hands. The gun that could have stopped those words from weakening him. Despite being the one who had survived this battle, it was Jack who looked terrified. He was terrified that everything George was saying was true. George raised an eyebrow, "Still feel like a winner?"

The muscles in Jack's jaw tightened. "I didn't… I didn't kill her."

I knew he didn't believe it.

George was becoming weaker, his eyes began to close involuntarily, but he fought to keep them open. They shut for a moment and he rested his head back on the wall. "We'll see… what she thinks...I'll be with her soon. Then we'll see… if she blames you." He smiled. Jack shook his head and mouthed wordlessly. George opened his eyes and fixed them on Jack. The malevolence in his gaze was matched only by that in his smile. "When I see her… who shall I say sent me?" His body became motionless, but he had enough breath for one last, accusing taunt to Jack. "Murder."

And with that George's eyes became glassy and everything he was left his body. I saw the air around him seem to wobble and twist and turn. I expected to be able to see him. I hoped I would so that I could kill him a second time around, but then everything seemed to shift. The air around his body became still again and I somehow felt, deep down, that he had passed on.

Jack's pistol dropped to the ground with a clatter. Nyssa stepped forward and tried to hand the baby back to Jack. "Jack…" she said gently.

"No," he cut across whatever she was about to go on and say. "No. He's right. He's right. It's my fault…" For a moment Jack struggled to look at my body.

"No… Jack… I really think you should-" Again, Nyssa tried to hand Jack back his own son. He turned away, no longer able to bring himself to look at me or his child.

"No," he said again. "He deserves better." He turned his back on everything and walked to the door. In the door way he paused and tilted his head in the direction of my body, but he couldn't look at it. "I'm sorry," I heard him whisper. Then he was gone.

I wanted to run after him, but I could feel that I didn't have long left here. Nyssa looked distressed, but Isaacio put a comforting hand on her shoulders. "He'll come round," he said soothingly. "He'll come round…"

Nyssa gulped and looked sadly down at my son. "I hope so."

I did too. I also hoped, that if George had passed on, Will would give me a chance to punch him in the face before he sent him to the Other Side.

Thanks for reading and please review :)

Lots of love,
LV xx